María Parra: «It was not in my plans to study anything other than music»
Article about María Parra in the newspaper La Verdad (Murcia), by Nerea Adly García.
The pianist from Soria will play on March 2 with her band, at the Casino de Águilas, within the program of the Jazz Club of the Association of Friends of Culture.
The pianist María Parra will be in the Region of Murcia this week with Gonzalo Maestre (drums) and Miguel Rodrigáñez (double bass). The María Parra Trio musical group plans to play at the Casino de Águilas, on Saturday, March 2, within the programming of the Jazz Club of the Association of Friends of Culture. The show will be presented by journalist Fernando Íñiguez, from Radio 3. They will play songs from an album that will be published in May. «We have already released four singles. I involve my colleagues in my project. They are in a thousand other jobs, thanks to how musically polyglot they are, and for me they are great teachers,» acknowledges Parra, very grateful to the organizer of the event. «Since he discovered me online, he put a lot of interest in me to come to Águilas to play. I invite everyone to come listen to us.»
After collaborating with the SGAE Foundation, she was bitten by the bug to create a musical trio. «I shared the stage with Chico Pérez, a great friend and pianist. I remember that I played the first part, and he did the second part with his band, and I said to myself: ‘Wow! I want that! Three days later I was talking to my manager to find me a drummer and a double bass. Once we were together, we started covering songs from my album ‘Visión’, and that’s how I began to encourage myself to compose songs for the trio.»
Do not pigeonhole the music
«I could say that we are a jazz group, although I don’t consider it that way either, I don’t like labels, we are a fusion of many things,» details this woman from Soria, who admits not being able to pigeonhole her music. In fact, «I’m having trouble even tagging it on Spotify, I feel incapable. After all, in my baggage I have a very wide repertoire, rock, pop, modern, classical…», says the artist, who achieved honors in the last year of the higher degree in Piano, completed a master’s degree in Spanish Music with Alicia de Larrocha at the Marshall Academy in Barcelona, and a specialization with Prisca Benoit, from the Paris Conservatory. She has two classic albums on the market, ‘Rêverie’ (2014) and ‘Mouvement’ (2016). In July 2020 she published ‘Vision’ in digital format, her first album composed entirely by her.
«My love for art has come to me since I can remember, my father was a very restless person and painter, I would say very cultured in all the arts, literature, music…,» recalls Parra, who recognizes that in her house there was little space for other musical genres, other than classical. «Although from time to time you could hear some flamenco, folk or author’s music.» Thanks to the observant gaze of her mother, who saw something different in her and encouraged her in different arts, she became a curious artist from an early age.
A huge struggle
«I always knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to music, and the truth is that it was a huge struggle. Well, although in my house the cultural issue was something constant in the environment, my father made a living as a teacher, and so did my mother. My plans did not include studying anything other than music, which already absorbs all your time, unless you are in a private center,» laments the artist, who after meeting The Beatles wanted to «devour everything, I needed to understand that new language,» says the pianist, who after a season dedicated to classical music decided to trust her, and «dive» into modern music and its wide spectrum. «I released my two albums on piano, which are quite concatenated. Furthermore, having Warner trust me was a real boost of confidence, which made me excited about a new project of creating my own music. Now I still have my most intimate plot with the piano, but with the trio everything expands much more, it is where I feel more fulfilled and satisfied musically,» admits María Parra.
